Benjamin H. Haftel is a trial lawyer with over three decades of litigation experience and an exceptional record of success at trial. During his career, Mr. Haftel has handled a wide range of catastrophic injury matters involving birth injuries, medical device and pharmaceutical products liability, sexual assault, and traumatic brain injuries. His aggressive and strategic approach to discovery, depositions, and cross-examination has made him one of New Jersey’s successful defense attorneys and has led to his retention in other high-exposure commercial and estate, employment, fraud, toxic tort, construction liability, municipal and police liability, defamation, and select criminal defense matters where he is highly regarded for his client-focused representation. For more than 30 years, Mr. Haftel has successfully defended doctors, nurses, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other allied healthcare providers and facilities at trial in the Superior Court of New Jersey and Supreme Court of New York, alternative dispute forums, and state licensure proceedings. He has also successfully represented clients before the Appellate Division and Supreme Court of New Jersey, having achieved success on behalf of Mt. Sinai Medical Center on the application of Choice of Law Principles before the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Mr. Haftel has also received external recognition for his practice, including inclusion on the list of “Super Lawyers,” which is compiled by New Jersey Super Lawyers magazine. No more than five percent of attorneys in the state achieve this level of recognition. Mr. Haftel is a frequent lecturer on medical negligence issues, risk management, legal trends, and other healthcare-related issues for various educational, professional, and business entities, including physicians, nurses, residents, hospitals, physician associations, specialty practice groups, attorneys, and judges. Mr. Haftel is a member of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (the “CLM”). This organization is dedicated to meeting the professional development needs of the claims and litigation management profession. In 2019, Mr. Haftel earned the designation Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP), having successfully completed CLM’s Litigation Management Institute. In 2021, Mr. Haftel spoke at the CLM 2021 Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on social media strategies and pitfalls for the professional. He has given Grand Rounds at Penn Medicine Princeton Health and Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health, has presented at the annual meeting of The Vascular Society of New Jersey, and has spoken before the Atlantic Health-Overlook Medical Center Department of Podiatry.
Before joining Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. as a Partner in 2023, Mr. Haftel was Of Counsel at Hoagland, Longo, Moran Dunst & Doukas, LLC, where he headed the firm’s medical malpractice defense group.
Ben is a 1986 graduate of Union College, where he also completed a course of studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, in 1984. He received his law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1989, where he was a Member of the Moot Court Board and served as Vice President of the Student Bar Association during his second and third years of school.
Mr. Haftel is admitted to the Bars of New Jersey and New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Representative Decisions
Estate of Barakat v. Roosevelt Care Ctr. at Edison, 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. Lexis 1379 (App. Div. July 29, 2022) (Late Tort Claims Notice/Covid Claims).
Ginsberg v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., 227 N.J. 7 (2016) (Choice of Law Claims NY/NJ).
Dais v. United States, 2013 U.S. Dist. Lexis 167900, 2013 Wl 61286579 (D.N.J. 2013) (Motion to Reopen Federal Case).
Smart v. Gloucester Twp. Mun. Corp., 229 Fed. Appx. 87 (3rd Cir. 2007) (Police Civil Rights Action)
Apgar v. Lederle Labs., Div. of Am. Cyanamid Co., 123 N.J. 450 (1991) (Discovery Rule)
